


Frighted Out of Fear

by antivillain (museofspeed)



Category: October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 16:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13011252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/museofspeed/pseuds/antivillain
Summary: Who better than the immortal sea witch that lives next door to help you with your bullying problem?





	Frighted Out of Fear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elind/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide!

To be furious, is to be frighted out of fear.  
William Shakespeare, _Antony and Cleopatra_  


If Lexi had been paying better attention, she would never have run into _that_ alley. It wasn't that anyone had ever told her to avoid it, exactly. It was just that, well, _no one_ went into that alley. No one even talked about it. Lexi hadn't thought about it much. Not until right that moment when she'd been running, trying to hide her face so no one would see her tears, until she reached a dead end and realized that somehow, despite living in the neighborhood all her life, she'd never actually set foot on this particular street.

It was surprising enough that she actually stopped crying. How had she never set foot here? Sure, there wasn't much in it, but she was _twelve._ She could have sworn she'd been _everywhere._ Her neighborhood wasn't "good." Tourist guides didn't even include it on maps. But she'd always felt safe there, and her parents hadn't had a problem with her running around unsupervised during the day. Nothing too bad ever really happened to people around here.

Usually, anyway. But Chelsea and Laura didn't usually decide to follow her all the way from school making fun of her hair. Usually they didn't drive her to tears until she had to run off into the nearest alley and hope they didn't follow her.

The door at the end of the alley opened. Lexi stumbled back as the shadows seemed to stretch and grow and reach from the door…. And then an extremely normal looking teenager stepped out, frowning at her. 

The girl was wearing overalls, her hair tied into pigtails held together with electric tape. Her face was covered with freckles and the ghosts of old acne scars. Lexi was pretty sure she'd seen her around, but they'd never talked.

"What're you doing here, kid?" the girl said. 

She couldn't possibly be more than five, maybe six years older than Lexi. Lexi scowled at her. "I'm not a kid. I'm gonna be thirteen in two months."

The girl looked amused. "Okay, what're you doing here, _preteen?_ "

"Nothing! I was just..."

Voices came from the mouth of the alley. "I think she went this way!"

Lexi shrunk back, towards the older girl. “Oh no, they’ve found me."

"Oh, is that all?" The girl looked out over Lexi's head. "You've got a bully problem?"

“I can handle it!” Lexi scowled, still backing up. 

“Course you can.” She still sounded like she was trying not to smile. “Or you can come in and have a cup of hot cocoa and wait for them to leave. Your call.”

Lexi’s scowl wavered as she considered it. “....I’m not supposed to take food from strangers.”

“Smart kid.” The girl smiled. “I’m Annie. If you just want to come in and hide you can do that too. More cocoa for me.”

Lexi hesitated, then nodded. "I'm Lexi," she said, then scampered past Annie into the apartment.

It was surprisingly clean, considering the dilapidated state of the alley outside. Lexi looked around curiously, until Annie put a hand on her shoulder and steered her into the kitchen.

"Don't get nosy," she said. "I wasn't expecting guests."

It seemed entirely spotless to Lexi, but she nodded, taking a seat at the table. "Your parents aren't home?"

Annie looked even more amused at that question. "No. They've been gone for a long time."

"Oh." Lexi looked away awkwardly. "Sorry. Do you live _alone_ , then?"

"What'd I tell you about being nosy?" Annie grabbed two mugs and poured milk in them. 

"Sorry," Lexi said. "I just--Mom would love to have you over for Shabbat some day, I bet." She wasn't totally sure on that point, but something about Annie just made Lexi _want_ to trust her. And she _knew_ her mother wouldn’t hesitate to feed a neighbor. Especially one that was just a kid and all alone. 

Annie’s eyes widened briefly, then she smiled, a softer, less wry version of the expression she’d been wearing earlier. “Now who’s offering food to strangers?” She shook her head. “I’ll think about it. But it’s a nice offer. Here.” She spammed a mug on the table. “Drink.”

The hot chocolate was some of the best Lexi had tasted, warming her all the way to her toes. She felt calmer as the drink worked its way through her, relaxing her, making it seem like everything might end up okay. 

Annie watched her carefully, then took a sip from her own mug. “So, what were those girls after you for?”

“They were just being mean,” Lexi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Mom says it’s because they’re lonely and sad and insecure, but mostly it just feels like they’re _mean._ ”

“What were they saying?”

“It’s stupid.” Lexi stared into her hot cocoa. “Just making fun of how curly my hair is. Which… it’s not like I actually _care_ what they think, you know? But still….”

“It feels bad.” Annie nodded. “I get it.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Lexi said. “The grownups all say just to ignore them and they’ll lose interest but I’ve _tried_ that and it doesn’t work.” She sipped from her hot chocolate. “Or maybe I’m just not good enough at pretending not to be bothered.”

“That’s terrible advice,” Annie said flatly. “Personally I’d suggest drowning them or casting a curse on them. That’s my usual solution to people bugging me.”

Lexi giggled. Annie was pretty okay. “I don’t know any curses. I mean, I know some pretty good curse words. Does that count?”

“Your education has been sadly lacking, but that’s what I expect of schools these days.” Annie smiled at her. “Finish your hot cocoa. Next time you see them, you can try out some of those curse words, huh? Or maybe a punch or two. Believe me, fighting back is way better than ignoring them.”

“Maybe,” Lexi said dubiously, “but what if they hit back?” 

“Then you can come hide here again, but I don't think that's going to be an issue.” Annie smiled. "They'll see sense sooner or later."

 

The Luidaeg watched as the little mortal skipped away, now in much better spirits than when she'd arrived. Hot cocoa could do that. There was nothing magical about that particular brew, except in the way that hot chocolate was _always_ magical. It had a certain special comfort that no spell could duplicate.

She had a lot going on in her life right now. A lot of plans set in motion. A lot of problems cropping up that threatened repeatedly to ruin everything. She shouldn't spend too much time worrying about some human kid's bully problem. Compared to the fate-of-all-of-Faerie stuff she had going on, it was nothing.

And yet.

Chelsea and Laura had given up searching for Lexi by now, but they hadn't made it very far. Not by the Luidaeg's standards anyway. There were so many reasons she shouldn't do this, but she was old enough to not really give a shit. Toby spent a lot of time afraid that a human catching a glimpse of a pointed ear would spell the end of Faerie's big secret. The Luidaeg was careful, of course, but she also knew how much humans would write off.

Two human girls, for instance, would write off the way the shadows started deepening around them as perhaps they shouldn't have stayed out too late. If they heard a whispering voice telling them to leave Lexi alone, they'd attribute it to their own over-active imaginations, maybe spurred on by a guilty conscience.

Or they'd think they were being haunted by a ghost and tell everyone they knew. But no one would ever believe them. 

And they _would_ leave Lexi alone.

The Luidaeg watched them run off, sea glass green eyes darkening into black, and gave a far too satisfied smirk. That had been _fun._

Maybe she'd take Lexi up on that Shabbat offer after all.


End file.
